How Escoffier Global Helps Culinary Employers Develop a Stronger Workforce

Discover the many ways Escoffier Global can assist employers in the development of a stronger workforce!
Person in a chef's uniform holding a stack of menus gestures toward something off screen, while a restaurant employee holds a notepad and pen.

You might know Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts as the place for future culinary professionals. But did you know Escoffier has partnered with Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions to help employers as well?

Through Escoffier Global, employers can access a suite of culinary and hospitality development solutions. With  tools that can help make hiring and training easier and more effective, Escoffier Global aims to link great employers with hard-working employees to support the overall health of the hospitality industry. 

Here’s how Escoffier Global can help employers integrate education into their talent acquisition strategy.

Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions Explained

Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions is a collection of tools designed to help employers and employees connect for a more skilled workforce. Here’s a look at each of these resources and how they work.

Work & Learn: To Educate the Staff You Have

The “standard” wisdom says that people go to school and then move into the workforce. But in the culinary and hospitality industries, that’s often not the case. Many cooks and front-of-house employees come to restaurants and hotels without any formal training.

So when you have a reliable employee who you’d like to see succeed, but they don’t have the education to back up their enthusiasm, what can you do?

Our solution is Work & Learn, a program designed to help employers build a stronger team by helping employees gain access to the education they need. In this program, employees attend Escoffier online or on campus at either Escoffier’s Boulder, CO or Austin, TX campus, working toward a degree or diploma while remaining employed. 

Employees are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship upon sign up, with potential employer-matching tuition assistance up to $5,250 per year. 

Chef Tim Condon and Escoffier graduate Terrydon Williams share their Work & Learn experience.

ESource: An On-Demand Culinary Training Solution

What if you’re looking for specific core guidance or upskilling for your employees? Escoffier Global provides a library of video content and coursework through ESource, a learning platform with an extensive catalog of materials that teaches particular skills employers desire.

We can also customize a pathway specifically to meet your organization’s professional development goals. And companies with existing learning platforms can license our content and incorporate it into their learning management system (LMS) as they see fit. Our competency-based materials can provide clear objectives and measurable outcomes, empowering employees with practical skills they can apply in the workforce. 

Your employees can explore new techniques or brush up on existing ones, or dive deeper into self-directed micro-courses and comprehensive courses.

A person wearing headphones looks at a laptop while taking notes in a small notebook on the counter next to them.
Employees can grow in their skills and grow with the company with Escoffier Global’s programs.

Custom Services: Scaled Training For Your Unique Needs

Every job site is unique, whether a fast-paced urban kitchen or a cozy getaway lodge in the mountains. Escoffier Global can work with you to determine what your unique training needs are. It can provide the training environment or meet you and your employees wherever you feel training would be most successful.

Of course, when that training ends, you want your staff to stay sharp and your new employees to get up to speed quickly. That’s why Escoffier Global offers custom Train-The-Trainer programs that can turn your in-house leaders into educational powerhouses capable of passing down the lessons they’ve learned.

How Escoffier Global Benefits Employers

So why should employers consider partnering with one—or all—of the Escoffier Global offerings? Consider the following benefits:

Turn Top Talent into Educated Team Members

You know when you have someone special on your team. They show up on time every day, have a great attitude, work hard, and love to learn. But that doesn’t mean they have the knowledge to back up their passion. And while you do provide mentorship, you can’t recreate the culinary school experience while also running a kitchen.

When you implement Work & Learn, you have the opportunity to build that deserving employee’s skill set and tap into their potential. Students explore the “why” behind the “what.” For example, they may learn about the chemical reaction that creates browning, or the building blocks of the perfect flavor profile.

And because Work & Learn allows students to enroll in Escoffier’s online programs, they don’t have to take a leave of absence or relocate in order to study. In fact, employees who study online with Escoffier can bring what they’re learning directly into your kitchen the very next day.

Make Training Your Team Easier

It takes time and money to create training materials—resources that you may not always have. And why reinvent the wheel when we’ve already got those materials? ESource can provide you with access to high-quality videos and coursework, and all you have to do is choose which ones you want for your employees.

These learning materials also give you consistent messaging in your training. You don’t have to worry that the person training your new hire is skipping steps or teaching bad habits. And you can free up valuable staff time for other important work while your new employee goes through their training.

A person wearing a polka-dotted tee shirt and wearing earbuds takes notes while looking at a laptop while seated in a rooftop cafe.
Companies with a strong learning culture have better employee retention.

Improve Employee Retention

Great training is about more than just giving your team the skills they need. It can also improve their job satisfaction, which in turn leads to less turnover.

The 2024 LinkedIn Global Talent Trends Report said that “​​Companies with strong learning cultures see higher rates of retention, more internal mobility, and a healthier management pipeline compared to those with smaller levels of commitment.”

The study also reported:

  • A 57% higher retention among companies with a strong learning culture
  • 7 in 10 people say learning improves their connection to their organization
  • 8 in 10 people say learning adds purpose to their work

Access A Steady Flow of Soon-To-Be Graduates

Restaurant hiring is booming, with the industry projected to add 1.2 million jobs over the next eight years, resulting in 16.9 million jobs in the restaurant industry by 2032.

As you seek to fill your own spots, you want the best fit for your restaurant, including motivated and skilled employees. How helpful might it be to have access to recent culinary school graduates all year long?

Every Escoffier student must complete one or two externships, depending on their program, meaning every six weeks or so, a new crop of educated culinarians is ready to enter the workforce. These professional experiences can help employees put what they’ve learned into practice.

Employers who consistently work with Escoffier externs can soon discover what knowledge and skills to expect from the average student. This can help employers “standardize” their externships and make onboarding easier.

And when employers find a great extern, they have the option to offer them an ongoing role in their company after graduation.

Connect With Culinarians of All Skill Levels

Externs are wonderful. But what if you need a sous chef or a chef de partie?

Escoffier Global can help connect employers to employees of all skill levels through EConnect, an online employment portal where highly trained and educated candidates head for their job search. Employers can post their job openings, join virtual job fairs to interact with potential new hires, and host dedicated information sessions to increase awareness of their openings. 

Unlike the “all-purpose” job sites that work with all industries, using a hospitality-focused marketplace may help your job posting get the visibility it needs to attract the right talent. Employers can start posting jobs on EConnect by setting up an account at no charge. Post your first job within minutes.

How Escoffier Global Benefits Job Seekers and Employees

As a business owner, it’s important to also understand how Escoffier Global can benefit job seekers and employees. You can cite these features—like the ability to help employees get the training they may need to advance their skills and careers—when you recruit and pitch potential workers.

Employees Can Get Training Without a Leave of Absence

The biggest barrier to advancement is usually education, but this can be a major hurdle for many employees due to existing commitments and the inability to hit pause on a paycheck.

By partnering with Work & Learn, you can help remove that barrier for your employees. Employees who participate in Work & Learn get the chance to work toward a degree or diploma in one of Escoffier’s many online programs. Students can complete their coursework and cooking assignments from home—with an in-person industry externship—whenever it fits their schedule, as long as they meet weekly program deadlines.

A group of people undergoes training in a commercial kitchen.
Ongoing training and education is a key component in retaining good employees.

Plus, qualifying employees who start Escoffier programs through Work & Learn may receive a scholarship from Escoffier, helping to reduce the cost of their programs. Some employers also choose to provide additional tuition assistance. Tim Condon, Executive Chef at Angry Cactus in San Angelo, Texas, currently pays for half of his Work & Learn students’ tuition, with a goal of covering 100%.

A culinary school education from home, for a lower cost, with the flexibility to keep working? Sounds like a win for all.

EConnect Highlights Employers Who Invest In Building Their Teams

EConnect can help job seekers match with employers like you who invest in the professional growth of their team members. They can also search for work by type, specialty, benefits, and more. This can help motivated and career-minded individuals streamline their search and provide better matches. For the business owner, you can save time and money by reaching the right people early in the process.

EConnect also offers a simple, automated resume builder that can format job-hunters’ experience and education into a professional document. This can help them communicate better—and find you.

Let’s Get to Work

The challenges of the modern hospitality industry should be met with modern solutions. Escoffier Global’s innovative programs in education and skill development seek to meet the needs of both employers and employees, making work better for both.

For customized training solutions, connecting with externs, or exploring Work & Learn, get in touch with Auguste Escoffier Global Solutions. Find more information and get help creating the custom solution you need to suit your unique business. 

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